Best Forgiving Irons 2017

A look at some of the most forgiving irons on the market in 2017: Clubs that could help you find increased consistency and improve your scoring.

Best Forgiving Irons 2017

For many, iron play is one of the most difficult elements of the golfing challenge. Making a clean contact with the ball and achieving a consistent strike and distance can be quite a challenge. But there are clubs out there that can make the task considerably easier.

There are many sets of forgiving, game-improvement irons on the market that could help you to achieve greater consistency and find more confidence when you’re striking iron shots of the turf or out of the rough. Making stronger contact and achieving a higher ball flight with your irons will help you hit more greens and give you more chances. Find the right set of forgiving irons to suit your game and you could see shots tumble from your handicap.

Titleist 716 AP1
Price: £100 per club (steel), £120 per club (graphite)

Titleist say the current AP1 is the longest and most forgiving iron they’ve ever made. Thanks to a high MOI design featuring high density tungsten weighting and a thin, fast face owing to the undercut cavity, these irons help you generate great ball speed even on off-centre strikes. The centre of gravity has been optimised and is progressive so as to help generate the ideal launch angle with each iron. Available from 3-iron to 52 degree wedge.

TaylorMade has been able to lower CG and improve consistency by adding Face Slots, creating a thinner overall topline and adopting a deeper Speed Pocket with a 33% thinner front wall for even more flexibility.
A new thinner, wider six-sided fluted hosel saves weight that is put lower in the clubhead. The new hosel bend slot also allows for a 30% improvement in bending. The M2 irons employ ‘Geocoustic’ engineering techniques; acoustics tuned through geometry for better feel and sound.

At its launch, the Big Bertha OS iron was Callaway’s most complex iron ever, promoting distance without losing out on forgiveness.
The irons do this through an Exo Cage construction; two vertical beams behind the face providing strength to allow the distribution of weight into more optimum locations. This makes the iron more stable on off-centre hits, allowing Callaway’s next-generation 360 Face Cup technology to function more efficiently for more ball speed across the face.

These irons feature ‘PWRshell’ face technology which helps to lower CG and provides a thinner, lighter face and sole structure, delivering higher ball speeds across the face for more distance. A full-hollow body construction through the set, delivers a soft, yet solid sound for higher launch and improved consistency.

The irons have a multi-material cavity construction with a new aluminium medallion badge saving weight that is then taken up by high density tungsten weighting in the toe, creating the low and centered CG in the oversized head.

The clubface material on the GMax irons is 40% stronger and this has allowed Ping to make them thinner for more flex at impact. This, along with the COR-Eye design, helps to increase ball speed and distance.
Longer blade lengths and wider soles have helped push the CG lower and further back for higher launch and more forgiveness. Greater trailing- edge relief and increased bounce aids turf interaction, while lighter swing weights in the long irons increase accuracy.

Srixon’s Z 155 irons deliver confidence inspiring top-lines and forgiving cavity backs, however, there are also a few helpful additions you might not expect to find in a standard game-improvement iron. These include Srixon’s Action Mass technology and the introduction of the Tour V.T. Soles. The Action Mass design combines a larger and more forgiving head with a new lightweight shaft option. The V.T. sole moves bounce to the leading edge to improve turf interaction.

Mizuno claims the game-improver JPX EZ irons offer the ultimate playability, courtesy of 360 degree Dual Pockets and multi-thickness faces. This design provides levels of feel normally only associated with forged irons. More traditional lofts mean you get the distance from the head technology as well as the height required to stop the ball on the green. Thicker, more uniform faces in the short-irons create a stronger trajectory on approach shots.

These stainless steel irons look great and offer excellent value for money. re designed to offer a high Moment of Inertia for added forgiveness. They also feature a progressive offset design to make the longer irons easier to square the face – preventing shots from being lost out to the right. They have a chrome finish and are available in four different colour options – black, orange, green and yellow.

Wilson Staff D300 irons
Price: £549 for 8-piece set

The D in the name stands for distance and the D300 iron certainly delivers that. The wide sole makes the club more forgiving through the turf. Forgiveness and consistency of the side-to-side dispersion is excellent. These clubs are truly forgiving and the high handicap golfer can be assured of the help on offer from off-centre hits and the resulting accuracy and distance control benefits.

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